Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit Starts Test-Run in China

China has started testing out the future of public transportation: the Autonomous Rail Rapid Transit (ART).

ART is a bus-train hybrid which runs using sensors to determine the road and does virtual tracking.

Last year, Chinese state media dubbed it as the "world's first smart rapid rail bus." Currently, it is called as the "world's first smart bus." It can be recalled that ART was first shown to public last June before it has run a short test track in Hunan city of Zhuzhou last year.

Now, the ART is being tested out on a 3-kilometer road in Zhuzhou.

China's started developing the ART in 2013 as way to make it easier for people to go to the places they need to without the hassle of the crowded urban roads and centers. It is being billed as cheaper compared to trams or metros and is reportedly more environmentally-friendly.